India will work within the framework of the UN’s “disarmament triad” to strengthen nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation architecture, foreign secretary Harsh Shringla said on Monday.

The country is also ready to support the beginning of negotiations on a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT) at the Conference on Disarmament without prejudice to the priority it attached to nuclear disarmament, Shringla said.

He made the remarks while addressing a UN Security Council meeting on the theme “Non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction: Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty” in New York. India is currently a non-permanent member of the Security Council.

Recalling India’s credentials as a proponent of nuclear disarmament, Shringla said it was the first country to call for a ban on nuclear testing in 1954 and a non-discriminatory treaty on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons in 1965. India committed to the goal of a nuclear-weapons-free world and complete elimination of atomic weapons, he added.

“India would continue to work in the framework of the Disarmament Triad consisting of the Conference on Disarmament, the UN Disarmament Commission and the First Committee of the UN General Assembly, to strengthen nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation architecture,” Shringla said.

The Conference on Disarmament, as the world’s sole multilateral disarmament negotiating forum, is well placed to advance the global disarmament agenda and negotiate legally binding instruments on items in its core agenda.

“Without prejudice to the priority we attach to nuclear disarmament, India has expressed its readiness to support the commencement of negotiations on a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT) in the Conference on Disarmament on the basis of the mandate contained in CD/1299,” he added.

In this context, India has participated in the work of the Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) and the High-level Preparatory Group (HLEPG) on FMCT. India has also contributed to the GGE on Nuclear Disarmament Verification through its membership of the earlier and the current group, which will meet in Geneva later this year.

India has supported the strengthening of the global nuclear security architecture and participated in the Nuclear Security Summit process and international conferences on nuclear security organised by the IAEA. India is also a key partner in global non-proliferation efforts and has piloted an annual UN General Assembly resolution on “measures to prevent terrorists from acquiring weapons of mass destruction” since 2002, which is adopted by consensus.

Shringla said there is a need for the world community to pay closer attention to the illicit proliferation of networks of nuclear weapons, their delivery systems, components and relevant technologies.

With the objective of strengthening the non-proliferation architecture, India has also joined export control regimes such as the Australia Group, Wassenaar Arrangement and Missile Technology Control Regime and harmonised its controls with the Nuclear Suppliers Group lists, he said.